94% of researchers rate our articles as excellent or good
Learn more about the work of our research integrity team to safeguard the quality of each article we publish.
Find out more
REVIEW article
Front. Public Health
Sec. Occupational Health and Safety
Volume 13 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fpubh.2025.1532623
This article is part of the Research TopicBiological Rhythms in the Brain and Gastrointestinal TractView all 6 articles
Nurse night shift work and risk of gastrointestinal cancers
Provisionally accepted
Xiaojun Li*
Lin Guo- Inner Mongolia International Hospital, Hohhot, China
Select one of your emails
You have multiple emails registered with Frontiers:
Notify me on publication
Please enter your email address:
If you already have an account, please login
You don't have a Frontiers account ? You can register here
The prevalence of night-shift employment is on the rise among full-time and part-time workers globally. Those engaged in night-shift work encounter various biological challenges, including exposure to artificial light during nighttime and disruptions to their circadian rhythms. These factors, along with changes in daily routines and activities, may pose significant risks to the health of night workers. Notably, the number of individuals working overtime or on night shifts has increased across various sectors, particularly in transportation, healthcare, and manufacturing. The International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) has classified night-shift work as probably carcinogenic to humans (IARC Group 2A). Subsequent research has identified several potential mechanisms through which night-shift work may contribute to carcinogenicity: (1) disruption of circadian rhythms, (2) suppression of melatonin levels due to nighttime light exposure, (3) physiological alterations, (4) lifestyle changes, and (5) reduced vitamin D levels resulting from inadequate sunlight exposure. Colorectal cancer (CRC) poses a significant public health challenge, ranking as the second leading cause of cancer-related death worldwide in 2020. Other than CRC, other gastrointestinal cancers are also creating a great global health issue because of their morbidity and mortality rates. In this review, we highlight the role of night shifts in disturbing circadian rhythm and how this action leads to carcinogenesis in the GI tract.
Keywords: circadian, night shift, gastrointestinal, Cancer, Colon Cancer, colorectal cancer
Received: 22 Nov 2024; Accepted: 07 Apr 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Li and Guo. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Xiaojun Li, Inner Mongolia International Hospital, Hohhot, China
Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.